Scrappy Fabric Strip Zipper Pouch – Tutorial

Spring is here in Melbourne and to celebrate I like to go through and give things a good clean out and declutter. The stash is not immune from this – it’s a fabric jungle in there. First thing to tackle: the scrap bin. Does yours overflow like mine? Excellent – let’s make a bunch of these and have them up our sleeves for teacher gifts and those odd times you need a quick present and you don’t have time to make one!

This zip pouch is made with scraps sewn together to form panels, then some quilting lines are added to create a nice sturdy pouch. This pouch measures 10.5″ long and 7″ tall when finished. You can make different sizes, just cut your strips a bit shorter and don’t add as many to the panel.

1. Cut and press your fabric strips. Line them up next to each other and choose which ones you want to sew together for each panel. There is 7 strips per panel.

2. Sew the strips together along the long edges using a 1/4″ seam allowance. Press seams open.

3. Use your panels as a guide and cut two pieces of batting and two pieces of lining to the same size.

4. Place your panel on top of a piece of batting and stitch either side of the seams in the panel. I used the width of my presser foot as my guide. Start from the middle seams and work your way out.

5. Trim up your panels. Trim lining pieces if required so that the panels and lining are the same size. Your quilted panels will look like this:

6. Time to sew in the zip. Attach a zipper foot to your sewing machine.

7. Place a quilted panel right side up, then place the zip face down on top of it.

8. Place the lining right sides down over the top. Stitch along the top edge to secure the panel, zip and lining together.

9. Repeat for second panel and lining. Open out and lightly press.

11. Stitch down each side of the zipper (as indicated by the dotted lines in the picture below). This secures the panel and lining pieces together and ensures the lining doesn’t poke out and get caught in the zipper teeth.

12. Open the zipper halfway. This is essential – don’t forget this part! Otherwise you won’t be able to turn your zip pouch out once you’ve stitched the sides.

13. Place the panels right sides together and the lining right sides together. Pin and stitch all the way around (as shown by the dotted lines in the picture below), leaving a gap in the lining for turning. Make sure the zipper is folded so the teeth face into the lining. If you are not sure what I mean, give this post a quick read.

15. Box the corners. If you want your pouch to have a flat bottom and stand up like the one in the picture, you will need to box the corners. If you are happy to have a flat pouch that you can slip into your handbag, you can skip this step.

Fold corners to form a triangle so that seams are aligned down the centre of the triangle. Measure 1.5″ or 4 cm in from the point of the triangle. Mark with a fabric pen. Stitch across the triangle. Cut off corner.

16. Repeat for remaining 3 corners.

17. Turn your pouch through the gap in the lining. Stitch lining gap closed. Give your pouch a very gentle press if it’s a bit wrinkly.

That’s it – you are finished! Add a scrap of ribbon as a zip pull if you like.

If you make a pouch using this tutorial I’d love to see it! Share them in my flickr group or post them on my facebook page – it really makes my day!

If you make a pouch using this tutorial I’d love you to share! Tweet me, post a picture to my facebook timeline, send me the link to your blog or upload a picture to my Flickr pool! I love seeing what people make from my tutorials, it makes my day!
– See more at: http://www.sewdelicious.com.au/2012/09/simple-zip-pouch-tutorial-for-beginners.html#sthash.2mHxUQZb.dpuf

If you make a pouch using this tutorial I’d love you to share! Tweet me, post a picture to my facebook timeline, send me the link to your blog or upload a picture to my Flickr pool! I love seeing what people make from my tutorials, it makes my day!
– See more at: http://www.sewdelicious.com.au/2012/09/simple-zip-pouch-tutorial-for-beginners.html#sthash.2mHxUQZb.dpuf

If you make a pouch using this tutorial I’d love you to share! Tweet me, post a picture to my facebook timeline, send me the link to your blog or upload a picture to my Flickr pool! I love seeing what people make from my tutorials, it makes my day!
– See more at: http://www.sewdelicious.com.au/2012/09/simple-zip-pouch-tutorial-for-beginners.html#sthash.2mHxUQZb.dpuf

If you make a pouch using this tutorial I’d love you to share! Tweet me, post a picture to my facebook timeline, send me the link to your blog or upload a picture to my Flickr pool! I love seeing what people make from my tutorials, it makes my day!
– See more at: http://www.sewdelicious.com.au/2012/09/simple-zip-pouch-tutorial-for-beginners.html#sthash.2mHxUQZb.dpuf

Beautiful as always Ros, I love your fabric choices together. Can you do a tutorial on the scrappy quilt-as-you-go that you do so well? I have tried to follow the Oh, Fransson! one but I am too hesitant I think. 🙂

Hey Ros – love the bag. I'm making it right now, just finished installing the zipper. I love how you put your fabrics together – mine are much more "matchy" I think my next pouch will be more daring with a bigger range of colors, like yours. A few questions..just want to pick your brain as I feel like i'm not getting any better at my zippers, even though I have practiced quite a bit. So, I am wondering how close to the teeth you sew your zipper to the top of the bag? In other words, when you look at either side of the zipper teeth do you see a lot of the fabric on the outside of the zipper or just a little bit? I'm having a hard time making the sides of the teeth even and I find that often one side of the zipper shows more fabric than the other, so i end up tightening the other side up to make them equal & it ends up with a stitch that is ALMOST too close to the teeth. So far it's okay and the zipper is easy to open & close. So, Do you have any tips on how to ensure that the zipper goes in more even? i am pinning and eyeballing but that doesn't seem to be working for me. my other BIG problem area is sewing up the sides of the bag – I find that bags I see on line use the same technique that i use, but the sides of my zippers don't line up where they are sewn together on each side – the "front" and "back" i mean – they don't line up well, they get kind of twisted – i have watched videos and i can't figure out what i am doing wrong!!! I love this project because it has really made me dig into my scraps (which are totally out of control). Just getting frustrated with my amateurish zipper look!!!! Thanks Ros – as always I LOVE YOUR STUFF!!

Hi Beth. I know you posted 3 years ago but I couldn’t see a reply so I thought I would add to the conversation. I struggled with zippers for ages, the stretching of fabric and getting the distance from the teeth to the side seam even but I solved it! What I do to stop the stretching is always sew a basting stitch ON the zipper itself near the edge and with the exterior fabric underneath. The zipper fabric doesn’t stretch. Then when I add the lining fabric (making the usual sandwich), I sew 1/4″ from the edge. I’ve marked a 1/4″ on my zipper foot so I can line it up. This always results in a nice even zipper. Re the sides lining up, I always pin very carefully around the zipper, lifting up to check that I’ve lined up the front and back fabric together and use a couple of pins. When I sew I don’t remove the pins until I’m about to sew on them. Mostly it works out nice and even. What I haven’t solved yet is the bunched up lining around the zipper opening. It doesn’t sit flat. Maybe I should iron the seams open somehow. Not sure. Cheers, Carol

I'm a little late catching on to this fabulous tutorial! I just made my first one and I'm hooked! I'm not sure how to sew over the zippers! I read your post on sewing them facing the lining but I don't think that was my issue (although I do have some messy looking zippers :/ First timer here.). My needle broke trying to sew through them as your diagram on step 13 suggests. Any advice would be awesome!

Hi Candace, zippers can be tricky but just keep practicing! Make sure you are using a nylon coil zipper, if you are using a metal zip the needle will certainly break. You could check out the free crafts class about zippers – I've linked to a few different zipper tutorials and info in my Resources page – the link is at the top of my blog!

I’ve just stumbled upon your blog — and LOVE this pouch. It is so cute. This would be something that teens would love to make — or receive.

I have a link party that I am trying to grow. I invite you to share this idea — and a couple of others — at my Grandma Ideas Sharing Time link party at http://grandmaideas.com. I think my readers would love this idea as much as I do.

The party goes from Wednesday through Friday night at midnight Mountain Daylight Time in the U.S. I hope to see you there. (If you don’t make it this week, I hope you can next week.)

Dear Ross,
I just had to say Thank you for your tuition. I have never made any thing like this bag before. I have never used quilting before. Thank you for making it easy enough for this beginner to have a go. Ok there were mistakes but I know thats how we learn. I am planning to have another go…..